Life Lessons from Mr Policeman
by Origami Scrawls
Summary: When Aomine saw a boy crying near a park, he decided to comfort and help him. He didn't knew that he would end up telling him a story about his basketball days.


"Hey kid, what's wrong? Ya got lost?" Aomine crouched infront of a little boy who was sobbing near the park.

The sobs subdued into sniffles for a while as the boy heard the voice. He looked up and saw a policeman with dark skin, dark blue hair and eyes. The policeman used his thumb to wipe away the big fat tears that rolled his cheeks.

The boy shook his head, bowing his head low to hide his puffy eyes. "Then what are you doing here alone? It's getting late and you should go home." Aomine spoke to the boy.

No answer came from the kid and Aomine suddenly started feeling tired already. He was never good around children cause that was Tetsu's field of specialty since he's a kindergarten teacher. Maybe he should call him to ask for advice on how to deal with these things but knew that he shouldn't bother the teal head. God, he should be out there chasing after criminals rather than being here with a sniffling boy.

Looking at the boy so small and sad Aomine decided that he should give it another try. He sat himself on the bench just beside the boy and lifted the small child. The boy gave a small surprised yelp from suddenly being lifted but other wise stayed quiet as the policeman placed him on his lap facing him.

It was awkward for Aomine. Having a child sitting on his lap was not something that he thought he would ever do when he applied for the job. But he'd seen a couple of mothers did this when trying to comfort their children, heck he's even seen Tetsu having at least two of his students sitting on his laps so he thought that maybe he would do the same thing.

"How bout we introduce ourselves first? My name's Aomine Daiki and I'm a policeman. What's your name?" Aomine said to the boy although with a gruff voice. The boy didn't answer. "You know, it's only polite to introduce yourself after someone. I'm here to help and if you keep on being all tight lipped like that then how am I supposed to?"

The boy looked up at the blunette, reluctant to speak. But since the policeman asked so kindly and was trying to help him it would make people see him as an ungrateful child. "N-Nakajima Ryouhei." Came the quiet reply.

"Alright then Nakajima-kun, what's the matter?" He removed his police hat and set it beside him on the bench while scratching at his hair.

"N-nobody wanted to play with me because they said I'm weak and having me on the team would make them lose the g-ga-game." Nakajima's tears came full force, sobs and hiccups wracked the little body, and his shoulders would shake with each sob.

Aomine put a hand on Nakajima's head, softly ruffling the brown locks. "But I thought it doesn't matter who wins or loses as long as you're having fun."

"I-I tried to tell them th-that but they won't l-li-listen. All th-they care is winning." The tears were now flowing like waterfalls. Aomine fished a handkerchief from his shirt pocket and wiped the boy's cheeks and eyes.

The policeman sighed then continued his 'interrogation'. "What kind of game are you playing anyway?"

"Ba-basketball." Aomine raised one of his eyebrows. He thought of some games that kids like him would play like hide and seek or police and robbers but he never thought it was actually basketball. Although it kinda made sense since there's a basketball court just beside the park.

Nakajima's story felt too familiar and it resurfaced some memories that he'd rather forget. Aomine stayed silent for a while, eyes seemingly clouded as he was brought to a time when he was still a middle school student. But from all of those memories, the ones about a certain teal head seemed to be more vivid and that the others.

"Hey kid, mind if I tell you a story?" Nakajima nodded, not really having a reason to say no. Aomine wiped the child's face again and sat him on the bench. His legs were starting to fall asleep from the lack of movement. Not used to having a kid on his lap.

"For starters, I was actually a basketball player back in the years." This got the attention of the boy beside him. "Got a friend who's like you. He's got the passion for the sport but no the talent. Back when we were still middle schoolers, I got into the first string while he got to the third." Aomine stopped the story for a bit.

"Then, then? What happened to him?" Nakajima's eyes shone brightly as he was suddenly eager to listen more to the policeman's story.

"Whoa, no need get all excited over it. And here I thought you're not interested with this cop's story." Aomine chuckled when the kid pouted a little but otherwise he continued. "Everyday he would practice alone in the third string's gym and since he has no presence at all rumors started spreading that there was a ghost playing basketball there."

"No presence? What do you mean Mr. Policeman?" Nakajima asked Aomine.

"I mean what I said. He would just pop out of nowhere, scaring other people when actually he was there all along." Nakajima still had that confused look on. "Uhh… Let's just say I was him and then suddenly you came and sat beside me. You thought this bench is empty but then I greeted you and you got freaked out saying something like 'where did you come from?' when I was already sitting here for at least an hour."

Nakajima's face lit up in wonder. "You mean he could disappear?"

"Nah. He's just hard to notice, that's all." And deep down he knew that what he said was the understatement on the year.

"Okay, so what happened next?"

"My team manager told me the rumor but I didn't believe it so you could imagine how frightened I was when I saw the gym empty but heard the thumps of a basketball hitting the floor just moments ago. I remembered frantically muttering a prayer before he popped out of nowhere and asked what I was doing there." Both policeman and boy laughed at that.

"From that day on we would practice together until night, just the two of us having fun. He became my best friend and we would sometimes grab some gori-gori ice cream to eat while walking home." A fond smile appeared on his lips, remembering those days. "Then one day, he came to the gym saying he's quitting basketball because he realized that no matter how hard he practiced, he would never get to the first string and play on official matches."

Nakajima gasped a bit seemingly to absorbed to the story. "He quitted?"

Aomine gave a snort. He leaned his body to the back and glanced at the evening sky. "Like I would let him do that. I told him that he shouldn't give up, that as long as he didn't give up then there's still a chance. He took my advice and promised that he would definitely rise to the first string and play official matches with me. Then our vice captain at that time found us there and said that he's got some hidden potential of something."

"Our vice captain gave him a hint and told him to come to the first stingers' gym when he found his answer. For months he started doing research and soon he came to meet our vice captain saying that he was ready to show his new play style but requested a match since he said that it was easier to see that explain and boy did he surprise all of us." Aomine stopped.

"Mr. Policeman tell me more, don't stop so suddenly!" The boy said while shaking his arm.

"Hey, I'm building some suspense here." Aomine said but in reality he was thinking on how to explain the play style to him. He assembled the right words in his mind, trying to make it easier for the boy to understand. "He plays using a method called misdirection, a technique that he uses to avert other people's sight. It's kinda hard to explain but in short he would appear and reappear out of nowhere to either pass or steal the ball. Even his teammates at that time would forget that he was on the court."

"How'd he do that?" Those eyes seems like they lit up in wonder.

"Like I said, he's just hard to notice." Aomine said.

"Okay. Please continue Mr. Policeman."

"Then the next day he became a temporary first stringer. The guy was the happiest man on earth at that time. But when he played on his first official match, things didn't go so well. The passes he made were not accurate and made the rest of the team fumble a lot. The coach wanted to demote him but I told him that if he was going to demote my best friend then I'd demote myself too. The coach gave him a second chance and impressed all of us. He became an official starter player because of that."

Aomine stopped to take a breather. He's not used to talking so much in a short amount of time. He looked at Nakajima and saw a bright smile threatening to split the small face. 'Kid sure looks happy.' He thought to himself.

"Then what happened next?" Nakajima asked Aomine with such eagerness that he couldn't find traces of the sad boy from moments ago in this kid.

Nakajima saw the policeman smiling sadly to himself, eyes clouded as if seeing something that he can't. "Well, soon the other starters' talents started to bloom and before we knew it other teams were terrified of us. We were undefeatable and we would always triple the score of out opponents. Everyone called us monsters and would quit basketball because of us. It was just to much for them."

"Our passion towards basketball was gone and we started to hate the sport that we once loved so much. Basketball was no longer fun and winning was everything at that time. We changed so much that we could no longer feel the joy of winning anymore. Soon we started to skip practice because whether or not we did we would still win, that we couldn't lose. We became arrogant and teamwork didn't matter to us anymore."

"D-did you change too Mr. Policeman?" Nakajima looked like he was afraid to ask.

"Yes." Aomine averted his gaze from the boy. "All the starters changed, well except for him. He tried to convince us that basketball was still fun, that there are many stronger teams out there but we didn't listen. We threw him away because his passes and steals were no longer needed. Because we were idiots with over inflated egos."

"After we won our third championship, we split up and went to separate high schools so that we could compete with each other. Each of us chose a school with a great basketball reputation but he chose some unknown new school with a basketball club that was formed only the year before. We didn't understand him. He has a unique style and amazing techniques that it would be a waste if he were to join some newly formed team. We tried to persuade him to transfer schools and join either of our team but he refused saying that he believes that along with his team they would be the best in Japan."

"Then did he become the best in Japan?" Aomine gave the boy a grin and ruffled the brown locks.

"He sure did. Man it was awesome. His team had this determination in them and they won't give up until the last second. They were a few close calls but they managed to somehow pull out. I remember they lost to my team during the spring but during the winter it's like they were a completely different team. Seriously, I wouldn't mind competing with them again someday. But most of all we were grateful of him that he would go to such lengths to change us back to a the way we were before."

"Then? Then?" Nakajima asked.

"Huh? What do you mean? That's the end of the story." Aomine said.

"B-but I want to hear more stories about your friend!" The boy almost yelled at Aomine's face.

"Nope. It's getting pretty late and your parents are gonna get worried or something."

Nakajima shook his head. "It's okay! I told mom that I would be home late."

"But it's still dangerous. What if someone tried to hurt or kidnap you?" Aomine said. The kid's just a bundle of energy.

"If that happens you will protect me and send the bad guys to jail right Mr. Policeman?" The boy grinned at him.

Aomine gave the boy a tired look before giving him a noggie. "You brat. I may be a policeman but I ain't your bodyguard. Now go back home, I don't want the to get a call from the station telling me to save you because you got kidnaped." The policeman released the boy who rubbed his head, trying to ease the pain.

"But I-" The boy stopped because Mr. Policeman held up his palm for him to stop.

"How bout this, meet me here tomorrow at around 3.30 pm. I'll tell you more stories about my friend and maybe right after that I'll teach you some basketball, how's that sound?"

"Promise?" Nakajima held out his tiny pinky to the Policeman. Aomine sighed but otherwise curled his own bigger pinky with the smaller one.

"Promise. Now go straight back home alright? No detours or taking the scenic way." The boy nodded and ran towards his home, waving at the blue haired policeman.

From that story Nakajima Ryouhei learned three things. One, don't give up because if you do then there's nothing left. Two, talent will only get you so far but hard work can get you everywhere. And lastly, have faith in yourself and believe that your dreams will come true.

The boy smiled to himself when he replayed the story inside his head. He admired the unknown basketball player in the story and wanted to be like him when he grow up. He wished it was tomorrow already because he couldn't wait to hear more stories and play some basketball with Mr. Policeman. If he got better then maybe his friends would allow him to play.

He couldn't wait.

A/N: Hey everyone Origami scrawls here thank you for reading my very first fic. This idea kinda just popped to my head and I just have to write it down. I'm sorry if there are some errors in the story since english is not my first language but I did my best to correct it and hopefully my story won't be such a let down to all of you.

Well I guess I'm done here. Thanks again for spending your time to read my fic.


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